Rating: 
Summary: Excellent photo quality! A few drawbacks
Review: I've had this camera about 2 weeks now. I've formed these opinions:Pros: 1. 3X optical zoom lens with Canon lens quality. 2. Excellent picture quality. 3. Great full auto mode shooting. 4. Nice variety of picture sizes and compression options. 5. Able to take Macro close ups. 6. Photo stitch several pictures together for a big panorama. 7. Some manual features available such as forcing a flash or turning it off, and exposure compensation. 8. Everything you need to get started except a computer is included. 9. The camera is has a fairly speedy operation. The time it takes to turn on and snap a pic is just 2 to 3 seconds. Other operations are generally fast too. 10. Able to turn off LCD screen and greatly increase battery life. Cons: 1. The 8MB Compact Flash that is included is ridiculously small for a 2.1 Megapixel camera. You will spend extra money in buying a 32, 64, or 128MB Compact Flash module. Factor that in to your overall cost. 2. The LCD screen is tiny. While you can get a good sense of how your photo will look, those little icons telling you things are tough to read unless you have the eyes of an eagle. 3. The controls are not very intuitive. You WILL need to read the manual that explains what they are and how to use them. 4. The software included is the bare minimum needed to download and print your pics. You will most certainly want to buy some supplementary software for editing, creating albums, etc. Contrary to what others say, battery life is acceptable. ALL digital cameras with LCD screens drain batteries fast. The A20 is no worse than the rest. You may want to invest in some Ni-MH (nickel metal hydride) rechargeable batteries. Radio Shack sells some with charger for around $22. Overall, I find the A20 a good point and shoot zoom digital camera. Canon skimped some of the stuff that comes with the camera, but the camera itself is a fine product. If you are like me, you will wind up buying a bigger Compact Flash Card, Ni-MH batteries, and some better photo editing software. Probably spent another $100 for all three.
Rating: 
Summary: Good but expensive power supply
Review: Easy to use and great shots. Be aware that you will need to add more money for the AC Power Adapter, otherwise you are always running on batteries, that do not last long...
Rating: 
Summary: This is a winner!
Review: I cannot say enough about this camera. After doing significant research prior to my daughters birth, I decided to purchase the A20. Straight out of the box in the delivery room, I began taking breathtaking photographs. My daughter is soon to be the most photgraphed baby in the family if not the world itself. This camera is a snap to use. Point and click and you are off and running. Installation of the software on my Dell computer was also a snap with Windows ME. The pictures download fast using the USB cable supplied. I do recommend that you purchase rechargeable batteries and a larger memory card. Do not get trapped in the whole mega pixel debate. For family use, this camera shoots great prictures. This is a winner!
Rating:
Summary: Great camera with a few problem areas
Review: I just bought a Canon A-20 two weeks ago. In short it’s a great camera. However, there are several problem areas one should be aware of before buying this camera. The first big problem is it eats batteries. Depending on the resolution you are shooing at (I always shoot at the highest) you may only get 20 – 40 shots before the batteries run out. The solution is to buy several sets of rechargeable batteries and always carry a spare set with you. The second problem is the flash is rather weak. In my opinion the subject should be less than 8 feet for the flash to illuminate properly. Even within this range some shots seem underexposed. There are some exposure adjustments you can make but I haven’t tried them yet. Also I don’t want to screw up the exposure for normal daylight since these shots usually seem fine. Another problem arises when shooting indoors with the flash. The flash refresh seems to be quite slow at times. I tried to shoot pictures of my daughter swimming and I missed several good shoots due to the delay in refreshing the flash. I kept holding down the exposure button and nothing happened for perhaps 15 – 20 seconds. This may be due to the batteries running down. The 8mb flash memory card supplied with the camera doesn’t hold many shots at the highest resolution. Less than 12 I think. When thinking about spending the ($) or so for this camera you also need to budget an additional ($) or so for a 128mb flash card. The camera does best in fairly low contrast settings. If there are bright areas in the background the subject usually comes out too dark. That about covers it on the downside. On the plus side. Under controlled or even lighting conditions the pictures are awesome. Colors are really vibrant and very sharp. For general snapshot photographs the camera is great. The size is small and very comfortable to hold. In whole it is a keeper. Hope this review helps. Good shooting!
Rating:
Summary: Thrilled so far!
Review: I must have researched purchasing a digital camera for at least six months, including reading hundreds of customer reviews, before I finally broke down and took the plunge. At first I was leaning toward an Olympus C-2040, but finances and a re-evaluation of my digital photography needs led me to the PowerShot A20. I've been using it a lot in the two days since I got it, and it is a *very sweet* camera. I barely had to look at the manual to get up and running with it, although the manual was helpful in explaining some of the more specialized features. I plugged it into our TV, and not only can it display pictures from there, I can also use it as a monitor to take pictures! I installed the download software that comes with the camera, and was pleasantly surprised to discover that you have a choice in which image editing program you send the pictures to. I am not usually a fan of bundled software, preferring to use Photoshop, but the PhotoStitch software that comes with the camera is really pretty good! It allows you to stitch together images in several ways. I was concerned when the pictures I took in PhotoStitch mode didn't seem like I had matched them correctly, but the software is incredibly intuitive. I also like the rapid-fire shooting option. I used it near the goal at a soccer match yesterday, and it helped me catch the moment when the goal attempt was made! Later I just deleted whichever rapid-fire shots were blurry or didn't capture the action. I can also send pictures from my computer to the storage disk on the camera, so if I wanted to create a slideshow to travel with I could! Like I expected, it is a battery hog, but I bought myself a good rechargeable battery set with charger when I purchased the camera, and I'm going to buy another battery set this week so I can rotate them out for charging. I also need to get a much larger CompactFlash disk. I have two of the 8MB ones right now, which work fine for short trips, but it would be nice to just take photos for a while and not have to clear a few of them out for space periodically. Overall I am thrilled with the performance of this camera, and it looks like all my research paid off. It does some pretty incredible stuff for the price, as well as starting up quickly, being ready to take the next shot quickly, and having a responsive zoom control.
Rating:
Summary: No Better Practical Camera In My Mind!!
Review: I have experimented with several digital cameras. I have been using a Nikon 990 for the past several months, but it wasnt mine, so I decided that it was time to buy my own. After endless hours of reviewing, I purchased this camera. I am so happy I decided to perform such an extensive review! This camera takes photos highly comparable to the Nikon! This camera is easy to use, and comes equipt only with (in my mind) the essential options. This camera gets all thumbs up. Some have claimed that it is a battery hog, but thats because these people obviously have not used other digital cameras; they all are battery hogs! Do not even think that of not buying rechargeable batteries (2 sets), and youll have no worries about running out of juice. I cant even say "for the price its the best"; it just simply is one of the best!
Rating:
Summary: Great Bargain!
Review: This is an awesome camera in a tiny package. Having used but never owned a digital camera, I spent a lot of time researching various options, with image quality being a major consideration, and ease of use being second. Having used SLR cameras for years, I am comfortable with them, but I am not all that familiar with digital cameras. After all the research, I decided to try this one...and I am so glad! The camera is straightforward and relatively simple to use, and the software is user-friendly. I bought a SanDisk reader for download, and would strongly recommend this to anyone as a battery saver. The images from the camera are clear, from close-ups in the house to landscape photos outside, and the color quality is impressive, even without the use of white balance. I just put it on automatic and shot away. Saturation of the photos is good, with nice delineation and clean shading. I am very pleased and look forward to taking many pix with this camera.
Rating:
Summary: good buy
Review: I recently took the A20, my first digital camera on a trip and was greatly impressed by the color. On top of it all I was most impressed by the flexibility provided by the manual mode. I just took the camera to the 4th of July fireworks in Boston. By switching off the flash and adjust the exposure, I was able to capture some nice pictures of the firework. The power was not a problem, I shot in excess of 80 pictures throughout 40 minutes of the fireworks. Althought not as small as the S100/S300, its size is decent without the price tag.
Rating:
Summary: No Complaints
Review: This camera is a fun, but practical gadget. For the price, the resolution, choice of compression levels, 3x optical zoom, USB connectivity, Canon name, stitch-assist mode, and ease of use make choosing this camera over any other mid-level camera a no-brainer. You will certainly be disappointed if you try to use standard Alkaline AA batteries with the camera, but NiMH rechargeable AA's are sold in a competitive marketplace and you can buy batteries that can take 150+ pictures before needing to be recharged. Also watch for the hard waterproof case once it's widely available if you'd be interested in underwater photography, a definite advantage. The camera will almost certainly be supported under Linux with the gPhoto utility, if Linux-compatibility is important to you.
Rating:
Summary: Another fantastic feature
Review: One other feature of this fine camera has not been mentioned - Image Stitch. I have taken a number of panoramic image sets using the stitch function. Canon software which comes with the camera stitches the images together and creates a panoramic view. The resulting file can be saved in various formats including jpeg and PICT, but also can save it as a Quicktime VR file. I have taken a number of 360 degree photos. I love this versatility. This easy to use camera has the right combination of file size, image quality, ease of use, and versatility. I have been very happy with the purchase.
| 
